


Stranger Than Earth

by Jjscoff



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Dragon Ball Z - Freeform, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Sex, F/M, Falling In Love, Jealousy, Possessive Behavior, Romance, Saving the World, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Vegeta being Vegeta (Dragon Ball)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23143921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jjscoff/pseuds/Jjscoff
Summary: Prince Vegeta and his Saiyan squad had been sent to Earth to help protect the planet in the midst of Kami searching for a replacement Guardian. Meanwhile, Vegeta meets his match along with a very beautiful, blue haired Earthling who seems to be equally as intrigued by him. However, they discover something sinister is lurking in a faraway planet that threatens Earth's existence.Will Vegeta finally give in to his desires of this Earth woman? And will the Saiyan warriors be able to stop whatever it is that's eager to eliminate them?
Relationships: Android 18/Krillin (Dragon Ball), Bulma Briefs & Vegeta, Bulma Briefs/Vegeta, Bulma Briefs/Yamcha, Chi-Chi/Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 41





	1. Already Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> So, this is my very first story and I'm really excited to share it with you all! I've had this idea in my head for a while now. A few things to note before reading the story:
> 
> 1\. This is a Dragon Ball AU, though a lot of Canon material is included and referenced.
> 
> 2\. As you read this story, please feel free to leave feedback since again this is my first story!
> 
> 3\. Music tends to inspire me, especially when writing. Each chapter will be loosely base on/inspired by a song or songs, so you will notice the title of each chapter will likely be a song title. The song(s) that inspires the chapter will also be noted in the Notes section at the beginning of each chapter.
> 
> 4\. I hope you enjoy this story and I can't wait to continue sharing it with you!
> 
> -Jess
> 
> Already Dead by Hollywood Undead

"Can you... feel that," the brawny, bald Saiyan took a deep breath and grunted, "I mean, did you guys _feel_ that?"

"I felt it too, Nappa," another Saiyan named Goku, the newest addition to the squad who was a littler smaller but still very muscular, responded with sharp skepticism. 

"Tch," another Saiyan of a much smaller stature muttered, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes as his killer glare was locked down onto the glacier they stood on.

"Vegeta, what is it?" Nappa asked, shooting a warning glance over to Goku, both Saiyans responding to the situation by quickly taking a defensive stance while their Captain stood with crossed arms in front of them. 

The smaller Saiyan gritted his teeth, thinking back to the transmission they'd just received merely a few hours ago from his other team mate and Goku's brother, Raditz, who was no where to be found.

They were sent to planet Shridow for a search and rescue mission of Raditz, after receiving a distress call from him requesting immediate backup. Shridow was an isolated, icy, bleak planet that had little to no known information about it and was much further from their home planet, planet Vegeta. Though, Vegeta, Nappa and the rest of Vegeta's Saiyan squad had been more recently relocated to Earth, where Goku already lived, to protect and guard the Earthlings in addition to Earth's current guardian, Kami. It was unusual for them to protect a planet, since their primary role was to eliminate and or sell other planets, but they were soon relieved from that duty to fulfill a much greater purpose, as Vegeta's father, King Vegeta, had reluctantly explained it, disagreeing with his own statement that was forced to be advised by senior leadership due to his son's arrogance and defiance. And with that, the prince and his squad of other Saiyans were sent to Earth.

Kami was growing too old too fast, and there wasn't a reliable nor worthy selection to replace him in his inevitable upcoming retirement, so he'd requested that the strongest warriors in the galaxy ensured to watch over Earth in the meantime. Alas, he chose the last of the Saiyan race.

Vegeta slowly brought his gloved hand to the side of his scouter, pressing a button that illuminated the device on his face. Once it served its purpose and produced the power level of whatever was below the glacier, Vegeta ripped the scouter off of his face and crushed it in one balled fist before uttering under his breath, "what the fuck... that can't be accurate..."

Goku closed his eyes to focus, searching for his brother's energy and slowly furrowed his brow, "something isn't right, you guys. I think that transmission we recieved asking for help was a sham. Did you actually hear Raditz on that call?"

"There might have been an abundance of interference," Vegeta muttered, angry with himself for not being more careful. 

"I...can't sense his energy anywhere," Goku said admittedly, concentrating on trying to sense his brother with his pointer and index fingers pressed to his temple. 

"Am I the only one who has no idea what the hell is going on here?" Nappa guffawed, waving a hand frantically infront of Goku's face. 

Goku's eyes suddenly popped opened as he simultaneously grabbed Nappa's hand to halt the ridiculous waving. "I think we need to go back and warn the others. We're definitely not prepared for _this,_ and you know how I could never turn down a good fight. But I don't think the three of us can take on whatever _that_ is alone."

"Can someone please fill me in here?" Nappa sighed, pulling away from Goku's grasp and reaching for his scouter.

"Did you hear me, Vegeta? I said I think something's wrong. There's something with a massive power level below us, even more powerful than the two of us combined," Goku stated flatly. "Do you still have that message for help?"

"Did you not just see me eliminate the damned scouter, you imbocile," Vegeta scoffed and did his best to reset himself by taking a quick deep breath. "I hate to admit it, Kakarot, but I think you might be right about the call being of deceit," Vegeta shut his eyes tight and muttered under his breath, "how could we be so foolish?"

In that very moment, Goku received a call on his scouter that made him slightly quiver. It was from Raditz. 

Goku's eyes widened before he pressed a button on the side of the scouter to answer the call. 

"R-Raditz? Where are you?"

Vegeta and Nappa stared intently at their teammate, cautiously awaiting Raditz's response.

"I'm on Yardrat. The Yardratians mentioned they knew you and wanted me to reach out to see if you coud stop by," Raditz chuckled before whispering, "you never mentioned how goofy Yardratians look."

"Yardrat?! You're not on Shridow?" Goku asked in disbelief, the other two warriors gasping in unison. 

"The fuck's Shridow?" Raditz guffawed, "listen, they're having a drinking contest of who can consume the most Yardratian liquor, and you already know I'll be crushing them at that, so I gotta go. Let me know if you'll be stopping by."

"Wait! Raditz!" Goku tried to object before Raditz disconnected the call. 

Goku immediately tried to contact him back when his scouter suddenly started emitting loud static and beeping sounds and then came to a quick stop. He slid the scouter off his face and frowned, "It's dead."

The three warriors looked at each other for a moment, until sudden rumbling coming from below the glacier knocked them off their feet and tore the glacier they were standing on nearly in half.

"Fuck that," Nappa snorted as he stood back up, "if you think I'm stupid enough to go down there -"

"Quiet, you idiot!" Vegeta snapped, catching his breath and glancing down at his broken scouter, trying to think of a plan. He _always_ had a plan. But this time, his brain couldn't even begin to wrap itself around what lied beneath them. 

Vegeta shifted his weight onto his heels and spun around to face his team, his onyx eyes somehow darker and emptier than usual, "Kakarot, you and I will go down there to handle _whatever_ it is that thinks they can outsmart us with a false call for help," pointing down into the deep and dark crevasse of the glacier they were standing on, "it's obviously some sort of trap."

Vegeta shifted his eyes to Nappa, "Nappa, you will stay here and transmit a message to the rest of the squad ordering them to get here immediately." 

The Captain paused and grunted, "additionally, transmit a message to the others on Earth, warning them to prepare for the worst. I need you to not fuck this up, for the love of the gods."

Goku nodded once and Nappa pursed his lips before sighing and nodding. Vegeta moved his gaze to the crevasse, his face hardening at the unknown. He balled his fists and struggled visibly to find the courage to finally utter a name in which he thought he'd never speak of again, "And Nappa?"

"Yes, Vegeta?"

"Tell... _Bulma_..." he stiffened and swallowed hard, as saying her name aloud felt like sharp daggers to his chest, "tell Bulma, that I _will_ be back for her."

Goku glanced at Vegeta and pursed his lips with an empathetic look, and for a very brief second, Vegeta showed a glimpse of vulnerability in his eyes before quickly averting his gaze from his best friend. 

"Right," Nappa noded.

A sharp gust of icy wind whipped into the warriors' faces as Nappa began his transmission to the squad, and next to warn their friends and loved ones.

"You ready, Kakarot?" Vegeta smirked through his feelings of uncertainty, though he'd _never_ admit it.

"Ready," Goku answered matter-of-factly.

"Follow my lead then, clown," Vegeta snickered as he jumped down into the crevasse.

"I thought we were past that 'clown' business, Vegeta," Goku sighed as he, too, jumped down into the center of the glacier, while the ominous and unknown awaited their arrival.

* * *

**Ten Months Earlier...**

"Yamcha!" 

Yamcha sighed in defeat, knowing his girlfriend had caught him blatantly ogling at another woman walking by them at the train station. 

"I'm sorry, Bulma! I was just spacing out, I swear," Yamcha protested feebly. 

Bulma rolled her dazzling blue eyes and crossed her dainty arms. "I'm going to launch you right into outer space the next time I catch you 'spacing out' and looking at another woman, I swear Yamcha!"

"Sorry Bulma," Yamcha apologized, giving her puppy dog eyes, which never seemed to fail turning her into putty for him; and he knew that he had her wrapped around his finger.

"Yeah, yeah," the blue haired beauty smirked and found herself being swooped up from behind by her hunky boyfriend, the two of them giggling and canoodling at the train station like teenagers while the city folk rushed past them, too busy to notice or care.

Once the pair made it back to Bulma's house in West City for dinner and their Friday night ritual of family game night with Bulma's parents, Yamcha finally decided it was time to turn in. The two had stood in the doorway of her house for a few minutes, giggling and reliving the night, before Yamcha gave his girlfriend a goodbye kiss.

Bulma sighed in satisfaction before turning around to head inside, though she suddenly felt her hand being tugged from behind.

"Hey Bulma," Yamcha said, voice shakey. 

"Yes?"

Yamcha stared into her glittering blue eyes and smiled softly before saying, "promise we'll be together forever?"

Bulma couldn't help herself from scoffing, "you sure that _I'm_ the one needing to make that promise?"

Yamcha sighed knowingly and nodded to himself. "Just know that I'll always love you."

Bulma found herself melting right into his words and smiled, "I love you too, Yamcha. Goodnight."

He smiled at his girlfriend before turning around and heading out into the night, leaving Bulma behind on cloud nine.

The next morning, Bulma woke to thirtysomething missed calls from her oldest friend, Goku. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and dialed her friend's number into her pink phone, yawning as she put the phone up to her ear.

"Bulma! I've been calling you all night!" Goku exclaimed in his usual, Goku-ish tone.

"I shut my phone off last night on accident," she yawned again, "what's up?"

"Listen, I know you're probably not going to want to hear this-"

Bulma's sleepiness immediately vanished as she abruptly sat up and cut off Goku. "What did he do?"

"What did who do?"

"Don't you play games with me, Goku! What did Yamcha do and where is he now?" She pressed sternly. 

"Well..."

Bulma's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "What happened?"

"You see, we all went out last night after he left your place. It wasn't anything crazy, just me, Yamcha, Piccolo, Raditz, Krillin, Tien and Chiaotzu having a few drinks until..."

"Until," Bulma pressed sternly. 

"Until these other Saiyans showed up. I'd never seen them before, but they were pretty intimidating! I immediately challenged one of them to spar with me-"

"Get to the part where Yamcha went and fucked something up!"

"Right," Goku continued, "so this shorter Saiyan basically said he was too good to spar with me, and Yamcha sort of had too much to drink and may have also challenged the dude. Now, let me tell you, this short Saiyan's power levels were through the roof! It was a total surprise!"

"So Yamcha didn't screw another girl?" She raised her eyebrow incredulously.

"Oh, no! Gee Bulma, did you think he cheated on you?"

Bulma's cheeks burned in anger at the naiveté of her friend.

"So anyway, the Saiyan of course wasn't having any of Yamcha's shit and he landed one punch to Yamcha's gut. Totally knocked him out cold. We brought him to the hospital and-"

"The hospital?!" Bulma shrieked.

"It's ok, Bulma. He's fine! He just had a few broken ribs. But boy, was that other guy strong! And his friends were also super strong!"

Bulma rolled her eyes and interrupted, "Goku, is he still at the hospital?"

"No, he was discharged early this morning. But you're his emergency contact, so we wanted to make sure you knew about what was going on."

"Thanks Goku," Bulma sighed as she rolled out of bed and and threw on the nearest clothes, "I'm heading over to his place now."

"We're actually stopping by soon, too. See you there!"

"See ya," she said as she scrambled to get ready to see her beat up boyfriend, aggravated that he always got himself into some sort of trouble.


	2. Antisocialist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Antisocialist by Asking Alexandria

Bulma's heart sank when she saw her battered boyfriend in bed with ice packs pressed to his abdomen.

"H-hey Bulma," Yamcha uttered with a half smile, still a little out of it from the previous night of drinking with his friends. 

"Oh, Yamcha! What happened to you?" 

"You should see the other guy," Yamcha teased and felt sharp tinges of pain when chuckling, reaching to hold his abdomen area in response.

"How do you always get yourself into these types of situations?" Bulma said as she kneeled beside the bed and felt a tear stream down her porcelain cheek, though her boyfriend wiped it away feebly. 

"Don't worry about me so much. I can handle myself."

"Clearly," Bulma snarked, shaking her head in disbelief and wiping away any other formulating tears. "You need to be more careful."

"I will be," Yamcha promised.

"Nice bruise, buddy."

The pair turned their heads to see their friends standing in the doorway, smirking at their battered friend.

"Yeah, yeah," Yamcha chuckled and slowly sat up, "I'm surprised you guys are here so early."

"We're surprised that you're actually functioning after downing all of those shots last night," Piccolo retorted, the group laughing in unison.

"Does anyone remember those other Saiyans' names?" Goku interrupted, breaking the laughter and causing everyone to shake their head in amusement. 

"Yeah, does anyone remember who did this to poor Yamcha? I'll be sure to give him a matching wound!" Bulma declared angrily and held up her small fist. 

"Easy, Bulma," Raditz chuckled, "he was with a group of other Saiyans and said they were 'scouting the area' for worthy talent. The guy was a royal jackass."

"And strong," Goku added, "actually, I bet I could concentrate real hard to find his ki and use Instant Transmission to track him down!"

"You better take me with you, Goku! This guy has a lot of nerve to treat my friends like that and beat up Yamcha for no reason."

The group all cleared their throats and pursed their lips, clearly hiding something, all looking in opposite directions. 

"What's with you guys?" Bulma scrutinized, trying to meet Goku's gaze as she stood up and sauntered in his direction, "um, hello? What am I missing here?"

Just in time, the private nurse that Yamcha requested knocked on the door.

"I'll get it," Goku offered enthusiastically while Bulma's blood boiled.

He pulled the door open to find a very beautiful woman with raven colored hair in a bun, holding a small medical bag and offering a warm smile.

"Hi there, I'm ChiChi; Yamcha's private nurse. Are you his brother?" ChiChi sheepishly extended her hand forward to greet Goku, and Goku's heart raced.

"Oh, I'm not his blood brother, but we are really close. Best friends actually," Goku responded cheerfully, starting to blush as he took in ChiChi's beauty and stepped out of the way to let her inside. 

"Yamcha's of course the guy in pain over there in the bed," Goku began with his introductions, earning a middle finger from the patient, "and that big green guy is Piccolo, this bigger guy with the 80s rock band hairstyle is Raditz, that bald guy over there is Krillin, the other taller bald guy is Tien and his pal Chiaotzu, and the girl with blue hair is Yamcha's girlfriend, Bulma!"

The group of friends sighed and narrowed their eyes at Goku after his very _formal_ introduction of them.

ChiChi giggled and nodded politely, "nice to meet you all."

"And that's this big green guy's cue to leave," Piccolo grumbled as he exited the room. 

ChiChi frowned and Goku shook his head, "don't worry about him. He probably just left to go meditate or something. He's really into that sort of stuff."

"Gotcha," ChiChi smiled and then felt her lips purse, "I'm sorry, but I don't think I caught your name?"

"That's because he didn't properly introduce himself," Raditz piped up, "that guy with the stupid pointy hair in every direction and douchey face is my blood brother, Goku."

The nurse blushed and giggled, "well it's very nice to meet you, Goku."

Goku felt butterflies beginning to flutter during his interaction with ChiChi before smiling back at her, "it's really nice to meet you too, ChiChi."

"Get a room," Krillin teased as he and the others started to exit the room, aside from Bulma, Goku and of course, Yamcha. 

ChiChi smiled warmly at Yamcha and sat beside him to conduct her check up. While she started asking Yamcha questions, Bulma smacked Goku's chest and pushed him out of the room before stopping him and crossing her arms, sporting a real mean glower. 

"Ow! What was that for?"

"What pieces of the story am I missing, Goku? You all went awfully quiet when talking about what transpired last night," Bulma huffed.

Goku sighed and scratched his head before nodding. "Ok, fine. But you didn't hear this from me, ok?"

Bulma nodded and Goku proceeded with caution. "So, you know how I told you about that short Saiyan that kicked Yamcha's ass?"

She rolled her eyes but nodded. 

"Well, he was with a group of other Saiyans, and there were a few females in their squad. They were all wearing this matching warrior armor, it looked badass -"

"Get to the point!"

"Right. So, Yamcha might have, well, may have, er, well... ok he definitely hit on one of the Saiyan women and the shorter one reacted to it, then Yamcha challenged him and well, you know the rest."

Bulma's heart instantly dropped as she began to feel tears forming in her eyes. She turned her head to peek into Yamcha's room and felt pure anger. She balled her fists as tight as she could and suddenly felt a strong hand on her arm.

"Bulma, I'm really sorry. I didn't want to be the one to tell you, you know? I know he seems to have a problem when it comes to that kind of stuff," Goku apologized sincerely.

After a few more moments of silence and collecting herself, Bulma half smiled through her tears and nodded before pushing past Goku to storm out of Yamcha's house. She was hurt and embarrassed, always made to feel like a fool by the guy who supposedly loved her. She wiped away her tears angrily and made her way to the train station to hide out at home, never wanting to see Yamcha ever again.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the day after Yamcha got his ass handed to him and Bulma refused to answer any of his calls and texts. She didn't want to simply block his number because she found satisfaction in sending his calls directly voicemail or leaving his texts on read. That way, she had control of the situation. And it wasn't nearly as awful as what he had done; so to her, her actions, whether they were immature or not, were justifiable. 

She tightened the bolt to the ship she was working on in the Capsule Corp lab for her father, which eventually would be sold to some sort of military force. After successfully rewiring inside of the panel, she wiped away a bead of sweat from her forehead and leaned back in her chair, checking her phone to see if she had any more pathetic messages from her ex-boyfriend. To her amusement, she saw there were 3 texts and 1 missed call, though the call was from Goku.

Ignoring the texts of poor attempts at apologies from Yamcha, she pressed the phone up to her ear to listen to Goku's message. 

_Hey Bulma. The guys and I are going to Buckley's tonight around 8 for a drink. I'm bringing ChiChi and Krillin's bringing Eighteen. Shoot me a text if you wanna meet us there._

Bulma frowned, feeling conflicted as she wanted to go and socialize with her friends but definitely did not want to see Yamcha. She just wasn't ready yet. Finally giving in to her sudden feeling of confidence, she reluctantly texted Goku that she'd be there by 8.

Bulma typically looked good, but tonight she wanted to make her ex lose his mind and make him wish he'd never mistreated her. She slipped into her tightest black dress that hugged her curves, with long black boots that tied in the back, and lastly throwing on a cute jean jacket to make sure she wasn't too overdressed for the casual occasion. Giving herself one final look of approval in her mirror, she smiled devilishly and sent Goku a text indicating she was on her way. 

Once she arrived to the bar, Bulma felt instant regret the moment she caught a glimpse of her ex-boyfriend waiting in line to get in. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she was Bulma fucking Briefs, and confidently strutted towards the line to go stand with her friends. 

"Hey Bulma!" ChiChi greeted, and Bulma's eyes instantly lit up once noticing Goku's arm around her.

"Hey guys," Bulma greeted them with a smile, completely ignoring Yamcha and flipping her blue shoulder length hair in his direction.

"You look really pretty tonight," Yamcha complimented and Bulma sniffed. 

"I know," she said with utter disinterest.

The two were caught off guard when suddenly hearing dark snickering coming from behind them in line, Bulma's curiosity instantly piqued. She turned around to see a very handsome man with his arms crossed and dark hair pointed upward, similarly to a flame. He was of a smaller stature, yet very muscular, and was dressed like he belonged to some sort of high class military division. Bulma found her eyes wandering all over the man's body, though suddenly disrupted by her ex.

"Oh shit..." Yamcha said under his breath before realization struck, quickly turning around to face away from the mysterious man.

"What's wrong?" Goku asked incredulously, turning around and eyes lighting up to see the Saiyan from a few weeks ago.

"Hey, it's you! You're that strong Saiyan that kicked Yamcha's ass and refused to fight me!"

Yamcha felt his face flush and looked down, avoiding eye contact with everyone out of embarrassment. Bulma instantly raised an eyebrow and decided she was grateful she agreed to come tonight. 

"How could I forget," the smaller Saiyan answered and smirked, "and now it looks like your friend is striking out, yet again."

The Saiyan glanced at Bulma, his eyes wandering down her body in approval before snickering, "you let me know if you need me to finish what I started two weeks ago."

For whatever reason, the total stranger made her heart flutter, his voice lingering in her mind and finding herself already deeply attracted to the Saiyan over the minor interaction. 

Yamcha spun around in anger and stepped closer to the Saiyan before gritting his teeth, "that's my girlfriend, asshole."

"Ex," Bulma corrected him as the Saiyan took a step forward.

"Vegeta, it's not worth it," a much larger man called to the smaller Saiyan, shooting him a glance and Vegeta smirked and nodded in agreement. Instead, Vegeta and his group cut past Goku's group. As the rowdy-looking Saiyans cut the line, Vegeta came to a hard stop once he was directly next to Bulma, giving her one last glance over before tsking.

"Pitty."

Bulma blushed as Yamcha felt his blood boil, watching Vegeta intently as he disappeared into the bar with his group, wanting to succumb to the urge of decking the arrogant Saiyan in the mouth, but understanding he didn't have the slightest chance against him. 

"Feeling threatened?" Raditz teased before Goku interrupted the tension cheerfully. 

"Let's go inside! I wanna see if I can get that Vegeta guy to finally spar with me."

As everyone except for Yamcha chuckled and shook their head in amusement, Bulma followed close behind Goku and ChiChi, anticipating an interesting night to come.


	3. Bow Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bow Down by I Prevail

To Bulma's excitement, Vegeta's group of Saiyans sat a few booths behind her group once they had gone up to the bar and ordered their drinks, which were mainly large pitchers of beer and a tray full of clear shots of some sort of liquor. She glanced over at Vegeta, though was disappointed to see he had been engaged in conversation with another female who was wearing a similar style of armor as him. She sighed, longing for an actual committed man who wouldn't ogle over other girls, and went up to the bar to begin a long night of drowning her sorrows. 

As she ordered her Long Island Iced Tea, she felt eyes glued to her, furrowing her brow and quickly glancing over her shoulder to see onyx eyes locked onto hers momentarily before Vegeta averted his stare and curled his lip into a scowl.

To add to her confusion, the female who'd been chatting with Vegeta approached the bar with yet another female behind her, both were devastatingly beautiful. Bulma smiled at them as they stood beside her to order their drinks, trying to brush off the strange unspoken interaction she just had with Vegeta. 

"Your boyfriend seems like he's the one in charge of you guys, huh?" Bulma giggled, watching Vegeta cross his arms and clearly reprimanding the larger Saiyan for trying to order him around outside. The female scoffed as if she were disgusted and then laughed along with the other female warrior.

"Vegeta, _my_ boyfriend? That's fucking hilarious," she laughed and ordered her drink, though Bulma's heart fluttered a bit knowing the female Saiyan was not into him like that. 

"I'm Caulifla and this is Kale. We're both part of Vegeta's squad, but neither of us are dating him," Caulifla chuckled and then pointed to one other female in their group, "and that one over there is Fasha, who again, is _not_ dating our captain."

Kale smiled and giggled, though not as boisterously as Caulifla, seeming much more introverted than her loud comrade. 

Bulma grinned and extended out her hand, "Bulma Briefs, nice to meet ya."

And just like that, the girls seemed to be hitting it off after a few drinks. Bulma soon brought over ChiChi and Eighteen while Kale grabbed Fasha, and they got their own 'girls only' table to the Saiyan females' relief. They had only been around their squad for so long, sometimes they forgot what female interaction had been like.

"Yeah, so Nappa, that huge ass dude that is usually up Vegeta's ass, is _kind of_ cute," Fasha started to giggle with hiccups after consuming too much alcohol, "and that one that sort of looks like Vegeta, Tarble, is ok; but I really am into Turles, the one who ironically looks exactly like your Kakarot, Bulma."

"Kakarot?" ChiChi and Bulma asked in unison, both giggling as they, too, were pretty much half in the bag.

Goku immediately turned his gaze over to the girls and waved to ChiChi, sporting a happy, drunken smile. 

"Him," Caulifla pointed to Goku, "that's Kakarot. I think Goku is his Earth name, but his Saiyan name is Kakarot. We all go by our Saiyan names, apparently except for Goku."

"Oh, that's interesting," ChiChi blushed and began to sip on what was left of her drink before noticing a strong hand gently placed on the table, causing Fasha to blush.

"Hey Turles," Fasha greeted him as seductively as possible, until a giant hiccup escaped from her, causing them both to laugh.

"Wanna maybe get out of here?" Turles asked to Fasha's surprise, and immediately nodded before waving goodbye to her old and new friends.

"Yeah, Fasha! Get it!" Caulifla yelled to her friend as Fasha giggled and walked out of the bar, fingers interlocked with Turles's.

Once the two left, Bulma had glanced down at her phone to see it was 10:45, though surprisingly not as tired as she usually was at this time of night. The sound of the girls giggling flirtatiously broke Bulma's attempted concentration to check the time as she looked up to see none other than Yamcha trying to flirt with the girls, though specifically trying to get the blue haired beauty's attention. 

"I know, ladies, that I'm incredibly handsome," Yamcha teased as the girls all giggled and loved his confidence, except for Bulma who rolled her eyes and brought her attention back down to her phone, deciding it might be time to finally head home.

"But tonight I've only got eyes for one girl," Yamcha lowered his voice and held his gaze to Bulma, and she rolled her eyes and scoffed while the other girls awed.

"Ladies, that's the problem with him. He's only got eyes for me _tonight._ But all bets are off for tomorrow and the day after that," she hiccuped through her anger.

Yamcha lowered himself to meet Bulma's furious gaze, "Bulma, can we please talk? I'm so sorry that I hit on her her," discreetly nudging in Kale's direction, which suddenly made sense to Bulma why Vegeta would defend her due to her lack of aggression.

He gave Bulma the puppy dog eyes, knowing that usually got her to give in, but not this time. She shooed him away from her, until he sighed and went up to the bar tender to whisper something and slip him some cash. Bulma rolled her eyes and pulled up an app on her phone to request a cab when suddenly the live band stopped playing, and all of the drunken people in the bar began to groan and complain. Bulma's eyes suddenly widened when she saw Yamcha get on stage with the band and goofily tapped on the mic.

"Is this thing on?"

"Get off the stage, you baboon," Nappa yelled, Bulma noticing the Saiyans chuckling darkly in unison. 

"I wanted to do something tonight to show my girlfriend that I love her. Something spontaneous, you know?" Yamcha started to say into the mic and then pointed directly at Bulma, her cheeks beginning to burn red with anger as all eyes in the bar were now on her, and for reasons she had absolutely no interest in anymore. 

"Bulma Briefs, I'm sorry for being a fucking idiot sometimes," he said and cleared his throat to continue into the microphone, the crowd bracing themselves for what was to come.

"And so I just decided to myself, I'd hide it to myself," Yamcha began to sing accapella while the band sat back and chuckled, watching Yamcha make a fool of himself with the best intentions. 

"Keep hiding it, for fuck's sakes," Nappa yelled out again and Yamcha stuck up his middle finger to him as he continued, holding his gaze only to a now very embarrassed Bulma.

"I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of, I'm afraid that I'm not sure of a love there is no cure for," Yamcha sang-yelled into the microphone, stepping down from the small stage and approached Bulma. She widened her eyes and looked down in embarrassment as everyone began to clap to the beat.

"I think I love you, isn't that what life is made of? Though it worries me to say I never felt this way!" He continued on and Bulma looked up to see he had sauntered past her and now jumped on their table that the girls were all sitting at, and continued with his accapella nonsense.

"Believe me, you really don't have to worry, I only wanna make you happy and if you say 'hey go away' I will!"

Bulma thought it was impossible to be as red as she was, though somehow after each word that left Yamcha's mouth, another shade of red was added to her face. She glanced over to Vegeta's table to find him on his phone, completely unamused and paying no attention to the dramatic scene.

"But I think better still I'd better stay around and love you. Do you think I have a case let me ask you to your face, do you think you love me? Cause I think I love you, Bulma Briefs!" He concluded the mini show and held his hand out to Bulma, though she glanced around the room to see happy drunken faces cheering and smiling at Yamcha's grand gesture. She knew she would be the biggest asshole in the world to reject him in front of the crowd, so she faked a smile and took his hand, immediately dragging him outside.

Once she looked around to see they were completely alone, she smacked his arm with all of her strength, "what, did you think that by singing me some goddamned Partridge Family song in front of everyone that it would make me just forget the fact that you're a huge fucking idiot, who can't keep his eyes on one girl at a time!"

"Well, no, but I hoped it would help you forgive me."

"Forgive you," Bulma scoffed and leaned against the brick wall in defeat as tears started falling, "of course I forgive you, because I'm stupid and always forgive you. But that's it, Yamcha. Nothing further than forgiveness this time; I don't want to be with you anymore, I just can't be."

"But why," Yamcha pressed, leaning over her on the brick wall, slowly placing a hand on her hip, "I miss you, Bulma. I'm sorry."

For the slightest second, Bulma almost gave in to temptation before finally coming to and shoving him back.

"No, Yamcha. I'm done."

Yamcha stepped forward again to lean her against the wall, and Bulma began to push back, not wanting to be around him anymore. He grabbed her wrist, causing her to let out an aggravated growl.

"Stop it, Bulma! I'm just trying to make things better."

"I swear, if you don't let go of me," Bulma trailed off, so angry that she couldn't finish her sentence. She finally found her opportunity of escape by raising her knee up abruptly to his groin, then watched him fall and wallow in pain at her feet while she huffed and charged inside, not realizing that she had shoved a looming Saiyan out of the way when charging back into the bar to tell her friends what just happened.

Vegeta smirked devishly once the bar door closed shut behind him, locking his gaze to his prey on the ground and cracking his neck in anticipation. 

He slowly stalked closer to Yamcha, until the hurt man had noticed white boots directly next to him. In confusion, he began to carefully move his gaze up to find Vegeta standing over him with a look of rage and lust for blood in his eyes. Vegeta smiled once Yamcha's eyes met with his and instantly stomped down hard on Yamcha's side, causing the man to howl in pain.

Vegeta snickered and lowered himself to level with Yamcha, using his index finger to pull Yamcha's face up from under his chin.

"Great show, though you looked utterly pathetic," Vegeta chuckled darkly as Yamcha was still catching his breath from the previous blow before he halted his laughter abruptly.

"Listen to me and listen good, you _fucking_ peon," Vegeta growled, his onyx eyes more frightening than anything Yamcha had ever seen in his life.

"If you _ever_ lay another hand on her, or even talk to her wrong for that matter," he paused to stare silenty into Yamcha's frightened eyes for a moment before snickering.

"I will make sure _not_ to show you any mercy. And please know that you're only able to move right now because I know it would upset her."

Yamcha swallowed hard and grunted in pain, "y-you like Bulma?"

"Tch," Vegeta answered, "I'm making sure she can feel safe to have a drink with her Earthling friends, not having to worry about vile predators like yourself." 

"W-what? I'm not vile?"

"Shut the fuck up," Vegeta ordered through gritted teeth, flinging Yamcha's head back once retracting his index finger from under the hurt man's chin. "I wouldn't test me, Earthling."

Yamcha saw no humor, no signs of bluff, and no sense of relent in the Saiyan's eyes. With that, he nodded and slowly attempted to stand back up in pain. 

Vegeta smirked with satisfaction before spinning around and heading back inside, making sure his brief absence was not noticed. As he walked by the girls' table, a few gasps startled him, and the girls immediately fled to Yamcha noticing he was in excruciating pain. Bulma noticed the look of fulfillment in Vegeta's eyes before piecing together that he was responsible for her ex-boyfriend's current state. She furrowed her brow and stared at him in confusion until he harrumphed and went back to his seat to take down another shot.

After quickly shooting down one of the shots at her table, Bulma marched over to Vegeta and placed a hand on her hip. Nappa instantly stood between them and Vegeta sighed.

"Allow the Earth woman to interact with me, Nappa."

"As you wish," Nappa obliged and moved out of the way.

Bulma rolled her eyes and stared angrily at Vegeta.

"Was it really necessary to fuck up Yamcha like that?" Bulma asked with frustration in her voice. 

Vegeta raised an eyebrow, "didn't you want to do the same thing I did merely 5 minutes ago?"

"That's beside the point," Bulma huffed and crossed her arms, "what's your deal with Yamcha? First, you kick the shit out of him two weeks ago and then you do it again tonight. Why?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes, "have you no manners? Someone defends your honor and this is how you talk to them?"

"Listen, space boy. You may be some sort of high ranking warrior to them," Bulma pointed her finger at the other Saiyan men at his table while the Saiyan girls hurried over to Bulma to stop her, knowing their captain has a temper. "But you are just a hot-headed jerk to me, if you think it's ok to beat up my friends and talk to them like you're King Shit!"

"Bulma," Caulifla warned in a whisper and shook her head, "he _is_ practically a king. His father is King Vegeta, which makes him a prince."

Bulma's mouth dropped, slowly turning hir gaze back to the very amused prince who had a look of satisfaction on his face. She found herself to be speechless, trying to find the right words to say to the Saiyan prince until he broke the silence. 

"Nothing to say now? That's unusual," Vegeta snickered.

Bulma growled and balled her fists, "whatever! Prince or not, I can defend myself thank you very much. I don't need you stepping in so that you think you can get a free pass into my pants, buddy!"

Vegeta scoffed and crossed his arms, "don't flatter yourself, woman. You're not my type."

Bulma felt her blood boil as she stormed away from Vegeta's table, Caulifla shooting him a quick apologetic glance before chasing after her fuming new friend.

Once the girls were completely out of sight, Nappa stood beside Vegeta and chuckled, earning a sigh of dissatisfaction from his captain. 

"And what could possibly be so funny?"

Nappa looked at Vegeta incredulously before shaking his head in amusement, "aside from being a Saiyan or a warrior, she is _exactly_ your type."

"Tch," Vegeta grunted and stood up to pay for his last drink. "Fuck off."

Nappa chuckled darkly, though immediately stopping once Vegeta looked like he'd had enough amusement for one day. As Vegeta and his squad walked out of the bar, he stopped them momentarily. 

"Tomorrow, we find Kakarot and Raditz to see if they'll join us on this conquest, though I can't imagine we'd ever need their help," Vegeta uttered in aggravation at his nearly offensive mission they'd been assigned to; to protect Earth. It was definitely a kick in the balls, courtesy of senior leadership, but he knew that it was only temporary until Kami could find a capable and worthy replacement as Guardian of the Earth.

"What about Bulma?" Caulifla teased, earning a look of disapproval from her captain. 

"What about her?" He snapped.

"Nothing," she smirked and stood back to attention, Vegeta growling at the remark before continuing. 

"So tomorrow, we begin the onboarding process. We'll meet in the desert East from here," Vegeta ordered and the rest of the team nodded before he exhaled, "ok, you're dismissed."

On his way back to his small appartment, all he could think about was a beautiful, blue haired Earthling who couldn't seem to escape his thoughts, anticipating their next encounter.


	4. Phenomenal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phenomenal by Eminem

"Hey, ChiChi," Bulma greeted with apparent sadness in her tone, still feeling hung up over the other night at the bar. She hated that she was always drawn to Yamcha, the two typically finding their way back to each other in their on-again-off-again style relationship over the course of 5 years, but she'd finally had enough of that. Her heart just couldn't take it anymore. Amidst her sadness, she couldn't help but think back to her interaction with the Saiyan prince, wondering if he had thought about her at all since that night, though his arrogance and egotism drove her absolutely insane. And not to mention, that stupid smirk and intimidating scowl, those eyes, that body...

"You okay, B?" ChiChi asked with concern, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder as Bulma snapped out of her thoughts.

"Oh, sorry, Cheech. I've just been a little distracted lately."

ChiChi smiled softly and held her gaze to Bulma, "you know, I know we've only been friends for a few weeks and all, but I know you enough to understand that you never want to admit your weaknesses. Just know that you can always open up to me and tell me that you're going through a rough time right now. Just because you open up about your feelings doesn't mean you're weak."

Bulma exhaled and felt a small and genuine smile begin to escape from her lips, "thanks, ChiChi. You're really the only person I've ever felt comfortable enough to open up to," she suddenly felt her smile fade as she sighed in realization, "well, aside from Yamcha of course."

ChiChi nodded with understanding as Bulma rested her head on her elbow. 

"So tell me what's on your mind," ChiChi invited her to vent, and Bulma sat up in her chair at the diner that the two had gone to for lunch, deciding she was ready to share her thoughts.

"Well," Bulma started and blushed, feeling a little embarrassed before continuing.

"Do you remember that Saiyan prince guy?" She asked nonchalantly, trying to play it like she hadn't been thinking of Vegeta's name in her head over and over again for the last few days.

"Vegeta?" ChiChi asked while the sound of his name made Bulma's heart flutter. 

"That's the one," Bulma confirmed, "it's just that... I dunno. We sort of had a weird moment at the bar. Or moments. I dunno, I feel like an idiot for even bringing it up. I'm probably just reading too far into things."

"You're the farthest thing from an idiot," ChiChi chuckled and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "So, tell me what happened during these moments with Vegeta?"

The heiress chuckled in amusement, "Ok, so Yamcha tried talking to me when we first got to the bar and had to wait in line to get in, and Vegeta kind of shut him down for me and looked at me like I was actually worth something," Bulma exhaled and pursed her lips before continuing cautiously. 

"It sounds silly I'm sure, but just by him looking at me that way for all of 20 seconds, I felt, you know, more important than Yamcha _ever_ made me feel during the entirety of our 5-year relationship."

ChiChi nodded knowingly as Bulma continued. "And after that whole stupid dramatic stunt Yamcha pulled at the bar, Yamcha tried to get back together with me and sort of made me feel uncomfortable outside, and there was Vegeta, jumping in to 'defend my honor' as he stupidly put it. I just don't need saving, I need someone to see me as their equal for once but also worship the shit out of me because I'm a goddamned goddess that deserves a good fucking guy for once!"

Bulma's cheeks were flushed with anger as she word vomited at the end of her confession while ChiChi pursed her lips, letting her friend take a moment to cool down. Once Bulma finally caught her breath, she scrutinized her fork for a few moments before tossing it down onto her plate and exhaling heavily. 

"What is wrong with me, Cheech? Why do I keep striking out when it comes to love? And why do I only have a thing for self-absorbed assholes?"

"My mother used to tell me that when you least expect it is when you'd find the love of your life. And that's how I feel about Goku coming into my life unexpectedly. It wasn't anything planned, but we just sort of hit it off, you know?"

Bulma nodded and grinned, "I'm still totally surprised that Goku finally has a girlfriend. We all thought he'd never find a girl patient enough to put up with him!"

ChiChi blushed and looked down at her plate. "He can definitely be a pain in the butt sometimes, but that's what I like so much about him."

Bulma shook her head in amusement and smiled softly, "thanks for being there for me. It really means a lot."

"Anytime," ChiChi confirmed with a friendly smile as their waiter made his way over to their table to take their order.

* * *

"Do you really think I'd let you off that easily, Kakarot?" Vegeta bellowed, promptly ascending to the sky and beginning to send multiple blast waves down in the latter's direction, while the rest of the Saiyans watched the sparring match in awe from below in the barren desert. 

"Bring it!" Goku smirked, blocking each blast and jumping up to meet the prince in the air until they were parallel to one another in the sky, sizing each other up. 

Vegeta smirked with satisfaction and crossed his arms, "you prove to be much stronger than you let off."

"And I've got a lot more where that's coming from," Goku challenged, slowly bringing his arms to his side and forming his hands into a ball as he began his signature Kamehameha wave.

"It's about damn time," Vegeta scoffed, bracing himself for Goku's attack.

"You ready for this?"

The Saiyan prince snickered, "you're really going to ask a Saiyan if he's ready? You should know we're _always_ ready, clown."

"Alright then," Goku grinned and released his attack, the blue flash of the energy wave a lot brighter than the other Saiyans on the ground anticipated. 

Vegeta smirked and suddenly brought his own arms to his side, forming a similar stance as Goku had, and waited until the Kamehameha wave was only inches away before finally shouting "Galick gun!" and sending the purple beam directly into the oncoming blast.

The colors of the two energy waves lit up the entire sky into a beautiful blue-violet, pushing hard against each other as the two Saiyans forced their waves with all their strength. 

Vegeta felt beads of sweat dripping down his face while pushing his wave as hard as he could, not anticipating having to work this hard against Goku's attack, though determination and lust for victory never leaving his mind as he found a way to push himself even harder against his opponent. 

"Give it up, Kakarot! You don't stand a chance against an elite warrior!"

"It's...not over...yet!" Goku retorted through his exhaustion, also pushing himself to his limits. 

The two waves continued to push against each other, one wave moving back slightly before pushing forward, and the other wave closely following suit, both waves and level of power equally matched. This had gone on for a few more moments before both Saiyans had enough, both releasing and swiftly moving out of the way as the waves collided and exploded into each other, shaking the Earth as the explosion occurred. 

"That was dope," Caulifla commented to the group while Goku and Vegeta were bent over in the sky, catching their breath hastily as the two Saiyans began their slow descend.

After a few moments of silence and catching their breaths, Goku chuckled through his exhaustion.

"That...was awesome...what did...you think?" Goku asked through heavy panting, though disappointed to find his opponent with an unamused scowl on his face.

"It was alright, but you'd have to train even harder if you want to join my squad," Vegeta uttered as he glanced over to Raditz and hardened his expression, "especially you, Raditz. I beat you in a matter of seconds. You need to perform much better than that, otherwise you'd simply be an embarrassment."

"We'll train for however long it takes!" Goku responded with excitement as both Vegeta and Raditz rolled their eyes. "Does this mean we get to join your squad and help protect Earth?"

Vegeta snickered at the naive Saiyan's excitement. "Yes, Kakarot. Welcome aboard."

"Oh boy, this is freaking awesome!" Goku shouted as the other Saiyans shook their heads at their newest teammate.

"Don't make me regret this," Vegeta muttered as he walked past Goku and into the desert before rapidly ascending to the sky, completely out of sight merely seconds later.

* * *

Later that night, the Saiyans went out to the bar to celebrate the newest additions to their squad. Multiple shots were ordered and beers were being chugged hastily, especially now that Vegeta had met his match in almost everything, including consuming alcohol. It was always a matter of who was the best at what for Vegeta, and of course he _had_ to be the best. There was no question about it. That being said, he shot back his 6th small glass of tequila and felt his insides starting to burn, of course never showing any signs of discomfort. 

As the night went on, and the group laughed and joked and enjoyed themselves, Caulifla couldn't help but notice their captain sitting by himself at the bar, avoiding socializing with the others at the table in the corner of the bar. She glanced over to Fasha and Kale, the girls instantly nodding in agreement before Caulifla took a deep breath and walked over to the bar to sit next to the prince, ordering another beer while she was there. 

"Tch," Vegeta muttered as he rested his head in his hand, keeping his gaze forward.

"What'cha doing over here alone, captain?" Caulifla asked in a friendly tone, trying to keep things light as Vegeta sighed.

"It would be in your best interest to go back to our table, Caulifla."

"You wanna come hang out with us? Everyone's asking about you, even Goku-"

"That's an order," Vegeta slammed his fist down on the bar table.

Caulifla rolled her eyes and stood up before pausing for a long moment standing behind him, contemplating and understanding that Vegeta's hard exterior masked something much more than he allowed to show. She took another deep breath and refused her captain's orders by sitting back down.

Vegeta shot a glare in her direction before sighing in defeat and downing his shot, holding his gaze to the table as he asked, "what do you want?"

"You might be our captain and prince of all douchebags, but you've also been our friend for years," Caulifla glanced at him before moving her gaze to her drink. "You've been bothered all afternoon; what's going on?"

Vegeta chuckled darkly as he cupped the empty shot glass gently. "That's a loaded question."

The female Saiyan rolled her eyes and noticed Vegeta abruptly tense his body upon hearing Goku's laughter, and she suddenly connected the dots. She nodded to herself in realization before trying to carefully continue the conversation. She knew he was egotistical, so she decided that feeding his ego was her best choice if she wanted to get through to him.

"You really kicked ass today, Geets. I've never seen your Galick Gun go that hard before."

Vegeta immediately turned his head in her direction and gritted his teeth. "I don't need your pity."

"I'm not taking pity on you, I was complimenting you," Caulifla scoffed as she stood up, having enough of the Saiyan prince's attitude. 

"You know, you don't have to be a complete asshole every waking second of the day. We're your friends, and you need to get over the fact that someone is always going to be better than you. So you know what you do?" Caulifla asked, her cheeks burning with anger and inebriation as Vegeta harrumphed and crossed his arms in response. 

"You stop being a baby and you man the fuck up and deal with it. You want to be the best? Then be the fucking best. You want to be the strongest being in the galaxy? Then train harder than you've ever trained in your life. But don't take your unhappiness out on everyone else, _especially_ us, who only want the best for you."

Vegeta stared down at the table, ignoring Caulifla's glare before closing his eyes and exhaling heavily. He gripped the shot glass increasingly tight until it broke in his hand, finally meeting Caulifla's gaze.

"So Kakarot's strength was a little unexpected, no big deal. I'll just train harder than I ever have until he can't last more than 30 seconds in a match with me."

Caulifla's glower suddenly turned to a smirk. "That's what I'm talking about. Kick that newbie's ass and show him what it takes to be a prince of Saiyans."

"Don't be so naive, I'm _the_ prince of _all_ Saiyans," Vegeta corrected her with a playful grin.

"Damn right," Caulifla chuckled as she stood up, feeling the conversation was a success until nearly gasping when she heard Vegeta clear his throat to catch her attention. 

"There's actually one more thing I'd like to discuss with you, since you're also my... _friend,"_ Vegeta shuttered at the word like it was poison, while Caulifla furrowed her brow and sat back down.

"Sure, what's up?"

Vegeta kept his eyes forward, making sure to avoid any potential eye contact as he moved in his chair with an uncomfortable way about him. Caulifla raised an eyebrow until he quickly glanced at her and scowled, immediately moving his gaze forward again. 

"I don't know how to get the words out, so give me a second," Vegeta muttered while his thoughts moved rapidly in his brain. After a few moments, he sighed.

"I need you to do something for me, and I need you to keep it between us, or I swear to the gods," Vegeta threatened, his eyes darkening as Caulifla nodded with understanding. 

"I need you to gather all the information you can about Kakarot's friend, Bulma."

"I knew it!" Caulifla exclaimed in excitement, Vegeta instantly glowering at her.

"Shit, sorry. I'll do it, it's just..."

"It's just what?" Vegeta snapped.

"Is there any particular reason why I'm gathering intel on Bulma?" Caulifla raised an eyebrow with a suggestive expression on her face.

"Because I said so! Do I need to find someone more capable for this simple task?" Vegeta scoffed as the female Saiyan rolled her eyes.

"No, I've got it. I'll report back to you by Friday."

"Great," Vegeta muttered and glanced up at her, for a moment looking like he was about to thank her, though clearing his throat instead, "you're dismissed now."

Caulifla snickered as she stood up. "You're welcome, captain."

She gave him one last look over before smirking and walking back to the table of Saiyans, immediately breaking her promise and gushing to Kale privately, shocked that their captain actually has a heart.


	5. Resentment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Resentment by A Day to Remember

Vegeta's eyes painfully fluttered open to daylight illuminating through sheer curtains in his small appartment, barely adequate to shield even the cloudiest of days. Onyx eyes heavy and calculating, malaise instantly bestowed upon the dazed Saiyan as he reflexively reached for the half-empty glass of water on the coffee table to gulp it down with urgency. 

Another night on the couch due to yet another night of drowning his sorrows in alcohol, alone, numbing himself to the harsh reality that he, an Elite, was bested by a third class warrior earlier in the week, his father was embarrassed by his defiant and reckless behavior, thus potentially compromising his entitlement to the throne via abdication, and as a result, he had been indefinitely demoted from purging and selling planets to protecting _Earth._ Alas, subsequent degrading kicks to the groin. 

He peered at the clock across the room only to groan with exasperation at his unconventional behavior, sleeping much later than usual. It was already noon on a Friday.

The prince elevated abruptly to shake it off, though instantly feeling uneasy and nauseous, before sighing in disappointment and disgust of allowing himself to consume as much alcohol as he did. 

A sudden knock on his door irritated the Saiyan prince twofold, grunting as he pushed through his hangover and unruly temper while tripping over his white boots and breastplate that were carelessly tossed on the floor from the previous night. Another impatient pound on the door and the Saiyan nearly raised his ki to blast the door straight off the hinge before taking a deep breath and pinching the bridge of his nose in concentration of attempting to calm himself. 

Focus.

Breathe. In and out. Breathe. 

Momentarily losing sight of the unexpected visitor, Vegeta caught his bearings and turned back, carefully stepping over his clothing sprawled across the floor, and reached for his sweat pants that were balled up at the end of the couch. Another obnoxious pound on the door and the Saiyan felt fury beginning to coarse through his veins. Leaving the sweat pants behind, he swiftly raged toward the door.

"The _fuck,"_ Vegeta growled, no longer caring to keep his irritability at bay and pulled the door open, enraged, only to be taken aback by a shock of blue hair and piercing blue eyes fixated on the prince.

"The fuck?" Vegeta repeated in utter bewilderment, his palms instantly perspiring and unsure whether or not his hangover was the true underlying cause for feeling like he was about to vomit. 

Bulma glowered at the Saiyan momentarily until shoving a thick manilla envelope, full force, into the prince's bare chest, clad in only a pair of boxers as he was unable to accomplish dressing himself due to the inpatient blue haired visitor.

_"The fuck!"_ Bulma repeated back to him as she watched the prince flounder to open the envelope, though having an inkling of what it was.

_The fuck..._ Vegeta thought to himself in embarrassment as he sifted through documents, photographs, medical records, scholastic records, and other documents pertaining to the heiress. As if on cue, his scouter was receiving a transmission and began beeping on his coffee table, immediately averting his eyes from the official stalker's handbook in his possession momentarily to assess the situation and hypothesize that it was likely Caulifla attempting to make contact and warn him.

"What the fuck _is_ this, Vegeta?" Bulma snapped with balled fists at her side and stomping forward to invade Vegeta's unkept appartment.

Although he was clearly in the wrong for requesting such intrusive information of a total stranger, his reaction to her barging in was less than unpredictable when he promptly followed behind her to close the space between them and snatched her wrist, stopping the fuming beauty from going any further into the appartment. 

"How dare you barge in like that!" Vegeta blustered while Bulma wriggled in his vice grip, dominating both wrists now, and unintentionally dropping the envelope on the floor for the evidence of the invasiveness to spill out on display.

"How dare you invade my privacy like that, you... you..." Bulma rambled in fury, unable to formulate full sentences. "You _sick_ pervert!"

"I am not a pervert," Vegeta retorted as he rashly released his grasp of her wrists, though she had been tugging hard enough that she instantly fell on her butt upon his release. 

Through a mean scowl and harrumph, Vegeta cautiously extended the offer of his hand to her and she inevitably swatted it away before picking herself up off the floor, deadpanning him the entire time it took for her to get up. As she started to catch her breath, she pointed down to the contents of the envelope.

"Explain," Bulma ordered through a more controlled tone. 

"It's not-"

"Don't you dare try and deny it," Bulma interrupted him, "I know _all_ about your creepy request. Caulifla told me everything."

_Fucking Caulifla,_ Vegeta thought to himself, _And who the fuck does the Earth woman thinks she is? Barging in and demanding that I explain myself? I don't owe her a damned thing._

"She only told me this belongs to you because I caught Caulifla with it this morning. She hung out with me this entire week, which I thought was strange at first, but chocked it up to the fact that I'm cool as fuck, and who wouldn't want to hang out with me?"

Vegeta crossed his arms to his chest and let her continue, seemingly in his best interest. If this were any other person, literally anyone else, they wouldn't have even made it a half of an inch into his appartment, though dismissing his thoughts while listening to the Earthling's anecdote. 

"She slept over last night, and this morning I woke up early to go for a jog, only to find her in the Capsule Corp lab snagging documents of some recent classified studies I filed away. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me you needed some of our data for technological resource studies to increase military strategy and for training purposes, but then I saw a picture of myself in that folder and knew something was up."

The sound of Vegeta's scouter continued to beep, though stiffening instead of reacting hastily in an effort to divert her attention from the device, which seemed to work as she held her gaze to the file and rambled on.

"So I asked her what you could possibly need photos of me for, and she said it was 'necessary for the request'. What the fuck is so necessary about my photos and my school records? Some of them are even of _Yamcha_ and I. It makes no sense!"

Vegeta slowly inched closer to the coffee table, though moving unnoticed as Bulma sighed in defeat and plopped down on the floor to collect the documents.

"I understand if you need my data for improvement of strategies. I mean, I am probably the most intelligent and capable engineer to walk this planet, but just ask! Don't sneak around and steal it from me," Bulma lectured, still oblivious to the Saiyan's discreet movement toward the scouter. 

The beeping suddenly stopped, and Vegeta prayed to the gods that his scouter would cooperate with suppressing his message recording. He paused and glanced down at Bulma, unable to resist an invasive thought of admiration for her assertion before she carelessly tossed the file onto the coffee table beside her, accidentally knocking the scouter off of the table. 

"It's just weird. Are you trying to steal Capsule Corp confidential data for some secret Saiyan business or something? You know, Goku already told me about how you brutes used to purge planets and how you got sent here basically because your father couldn't stand you defying his orders-"

Vegeta held out his index finger in warning, containing the darkest desire to choke the mouthy Earth woman, "not another word."

"Or could it be that you're planning on kidnapping me? Now having a glimpse of insight into my capabilities, that is."

Vegeta inadvertantly mused her fear of captivity when his eyes widened in unanticipated terror. The scouter interrupted the limited silence and began to playback the transmission, Bulma furrowing her brow and perplexed by the initial sound of static coming from the device that was now next to her foot.

_"Vegeta, Bulma found the file you requested and ran off with it. I think she's headed to your place now, which, uh, I may be partially responsible for advising her your address. I lied and said the file's for studying and research purposes to develop new Saiyan military strategies, and of course I threw in the whole 'you're just proving her capabilities and impressive intelligence before requesting her assistance', which isn't actually totally a lie; the girl's honestly smart as fuck. So I don't think she suspects you have a cru-"_

Vegeta gasped and jumped for the scouter, pouncing like a ravenous lion killing its prey, as Bulma reacted instantly and followed suit.

"Oh no you don't, stalker!" Bulma shouted as she dove for the device, though Vegeta snatched it in what felt like a lifetime before she could reach it. 

"Ugh!" Bulma groaned and stood back up, violently reaching for the scouter as Vegeta blocked each one of her attempted grabs. Ultimately at his wits' end, he spun her around fast enough before she could physically comprehend what was transpiring, her back now turned to him. The prince reached out from behind her and lifted the raging heiress off the ground, her feet dangling and kicking in reaction of the attempt to seize her.

"Get your hands off of me!" Bulma ordered, trying to wriggle free from the Saiyan's strong hold. "Let me go, you brute!"

"Are you going to continue this childish behavior if I so choose to?" Vegeta interrogated, tightening his grip unintentionally until the Earthling yelped. 

Vegeta instantly let her drop, fearing he'd gone too far and not intending to hurt her, though deceived by her faux whimpering when she saw the Saiyan softening to her reactions and kicking his shin with all of her strength. Her power was unfortunately futile at best against the Saiyan Elite, the prince barely flinching in response to her attack. 

"Fuck, that hurt!" Bulma gasped and grabbed her foot in agony. "What, are you made of steel or something?" She scoffed, hobbling over to the couch and panting heavily.

"Serves you right for barging in without a proper invitation, Earth woman," Vegeta sneered and briskly approached her. "Though I'm privy to your capabilities now, which are... _adequate_ for an Earthling, you have _no_ idea what I'm capable of." 

"Sure I do! You think you're such a tough guy, but I see right through that facade," Bulma instinctively pointed to her cranium and grinned, already forgetting about her foot, "precious cargo, remember?"

"You need to watch your tongue with me, Woman," Vegeta snapped, his eyes casting no sign of amity as he narrowed in on her. "I am formally the prince of Saiyans, heir to the Saiyan throne of my home planet, Vegeta. Additionally, I am an Elite warrior, with a predilection to kill without relent. Meaning I could simply eliminate you with a single nudge, instantly crushing you without showing any mercy."

Bulma stared at Vegeta in scrutiny for a few moments and guffawed, "you're more of a fearmonger than a leader, your highness."

She carefully stood up and took a step forward, patronizing the prince's ego as an unexpected shift in her body language occured, batting her eyes to him with a triumphant smirk painted on her face.

Vegeta didn't inch a muscle and negligently allowed the heiress to taunt his pride with her attempt of seduction, snarling in response to her actions when she eventually closed in on any remaining space between them. She glanced hungrily at the Saiyan's chiseled abdomen and then moved her lustful gaze to his eyes, bringing her dainty hand onto his shoulder and her lips beside his ear, sending a shiver down the Saiyan's spine.

"You don't scare me, bad man," Bulma murmured, slowly sliding her hand down the Saiyan's chest. "I think you're all talk."

Vegeta tensed in response, feeling himself beginning to lose control when abruptly snapping out of it. All he needed was just one more thing added to the list of recent fuck-ups: allowing himself to find an Earth woman desirable. She was not nearly as strong as a Saiyan nor was she a suitable mate or companion in an effort to continue his bloodline. Though, he'd heard of half-Saiyans before, some even capable of matching a true Saiyan's power. 

With much mental effort, Vegeta pulled away and practically launched himself backwards, standing beside the door to his appartment prior to Bulma calculating his movements. He slightly turned his head to the side and smirked with satisfaction, eyes darkening as they were glued to shimmery blues.

"Test me again, and you'll find out if I'm bluffing," Vegeta threatened darkly, opening the door to indicate she had overstayed her welcome. 

Bulma huffed as she reached down to grab the file and stormed past the amused Saiyan, coming to a halt in the doorway and shifting her weight onto the back her heels. Though ultimately deciding to keep her back to him, she growled and stamped her foot in immature fashion.

"This isn't over, fuck head. Stay away from me and my files," Bulma ordered before storming off. Vegeta couldn't help but glance at her ass, noticing how it formed a perfect bubble tightly packed into her immodest jeans.

He snickered as primal instincts waved over him until shaking the thoughts away. 

"We'll see," he muttered to himself and slammed the door shut, sighing in dissatisfaction that he was now unable to suppress his complex desire of one blue haired, blue eyed, beautiful Earth woman. He was doomed, but he somehow felt more alive than he ever had.


	6. All Around Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Around Me by Flyleaf

With every fiber of her being, Bulma forced a smile and suppressed the aching desire to roll her dazzling blue eyes while her Tinder date babbled on about something nonsensical, clearly a disastrous affair and waste of a Saturday night. She had kept a mental tally going on how many times her date said "dude" over the span of the last hour and a half, dining at some subpar restaurant in the city that lacked elegance and effort, in which Bulma was only half-expecting. To be exact, her cretinous, curly brown haired date said the word 27 agonizing times.

"And then, like, I told this dude not to do a cannon ball off the side of the ship, because we're, like, in the ocean, you know? There's sharks and shit in there," her date explained with wide brown eyes as Bulma could actually feel her brain cells disintegrating one-by-one, the solemn consideration of throat-jabbing him deepening by the minute. Instead, Bulma nodded slowly before tucking her straightened blue hair behind her ear and stabbed into a piece of steak while contemplating stabbing her own eyeballs out.

"So then, I was like, 'bro, what are you doing?' And he was like, 'dude, trust me. Sharks won't even bother with me. They dont like buff guys.'"

Bulma subtly clicked her tongue and stabbed deeper into her steak, imperceptibly curling her lips to form a wry smile as she brought the meat to her mouth. 

"He sounds like one impressive ichthyologist," she impulsively allowed the snide comment to escape from her lips before sighing in realization that her wit blatantly went over her date's head, consistently so, as he shrugged and thankfully changed the subject.

After enduring yet another excruciating anecdote, Bulma arose from her chair and cleared her throat. "I just need to get some fresh air, hun. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Word," her date responded with a boyish grin. 

Bulma choked back vomit as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her. She groaned under her breath, immediately pacing to the door and opening it with purpose before rashly shuffling over to the side of the building and allowing herself to slowly drop against the brick wall in a crouching position. She closed her eyes and brought her hands to her head, balling fists of blue hair while beginning to inhale and exhale steadily. 

"How do I always get myself into these situations," Bulma muttered to herself, and as if things couldn't get any worse, a roar of thunder sounded off in the distance. 

"Just perfect. Even the gods are telling me this is stupid," she shook her head in amusement, rising from the ground and confidently smoothing down her red dress. She glanced down at her knee-high, black velvet, high heeled boots, longing for someone to appreciate her beauty _and_ her intelligence, when a now distant remark suddenly racked her brain, agitating the heiress as _his_ voice consumed her, even if she didn't want to admit it. 

_"Test me again, and you'll find out if I'm bluffing."_

Bulma inadvertently bit down on her her bottom lip as the gruff sound of Vegeta's voice replayed in her head, sending a tingling sensation throughout her body and suddenly finding herself inclined to call the Saiyan out on his bluff. She glanced around the corner to ensure she was alone before reaching for her cellphone from her purse to text Goku, forming a mischievous smile as she sent the message. 

**Bulma (8:06PM):** Whatcha up to? With anyone right now?

Seconds later, to Bulma's satisfaction, Goku texted back.

**Goku (8:06PM):** Just hanging with the squad. ChiChi said you should come over after your date! How's that going by the way?

**Bulma (8:07PM):** Awful. Trying to get out of it ASAP.

**Goku (8:08PM):** Sorry Bulma :( You can come over if you want! I think ChiChi's pretty much over hanging out with the guys anyway lol

Bulma raised an eyebrow incredulously.

**Bulma (8:09PM):** Where are Fasha, Caulifla and Kale?

**Goku (8:09PM):** Don't be mad.

**Bulma (8:10PM):** ....

**Goku (8:11PM):** Well, Fasha and Caulifla are hanging out and having a girls night or something. And Kale is sort of at Yamcha's house... 

**Bulma (8:11PM):** Whatever. She'll just find out the hard way that he's a douchebag and totally not worth her time.

Bulma sighed, shaking off the brief feeling of betrayal before recollection of the intent to text Goku brought her back to reality. 

**Bulma (8:13PM):** Is Vegeta there?

**Goku (8:14PM):** Nope. He's training out in the desert. Been gone all day

Another thunderous roar sounded off in the distance and Bulma furrowed her brow, anticipating a flash of lightning, though no flashes followed. Shrugging it off, she huffed in defeat as her plan foiled before her eyes, registering it was a dumb idea to pursue riling up the prince, at least for now. The heiress shoved her phone back into her purse, taking one final deep breath before heading back into the restaurant to get her date over with.

* * *

"Galick Gun!" Vegeta bellowed upon raising his ki and pushing his previously curved hands out in front of himself, using every ounce of energy he had within. The purple energy wave struck down ferociously, powerful enough to blast a hole into the ground of the baron desert, right beside the other small craters he'd just formed. The aftermath of the wave shook the Earth below his feet, causing a thunderous roar while he stood motionless and focused on the dust settling at a leisurely pace. 

The prince instantly curled his lip into a dissatisfied snarl when calculating the strength of his wave had not yet surpassed Goku's Kamehameha wave. He harrumphed and licked his lips, tasting saline and disappointment. 

"Damn it," Vegeta cursed under his breath, balling his fists at either side of his tired, muscular body and panting heavily before he's knees eventually buckled, bringing him straight to the ground. 

The prince remained on his knees, glaring up to the night sky when dark clouds began to roll in, covering the moon as a result. Sensing a sudden change in the weather, though not caring to move, Vegeta allowed the instant downpour of rain to crash into his face, pounding down harder by the second. Closing his eyes and momentarily succumbing to his failure, the prince opened his arms and let out an ear-piercing bellow as the rain continued pelting him. How could he, an Elite warrior, the prince of all Saiyans, lack the ability to surpass the attack of a low class warrior who _chose_ to live on Earth? He couldn't allow it to happen any further; he _wouldn't._

After meditating intently through the roaring of the rain, Vegeta's eyes promptly sprung open as the Saiyan sharply ascended to the sky, keeping his arms spread outward and breathing heavily as he tensed his entire body to raise his ki, sustaining intense focus. The shimmery aura surrounded his straining body while the Saiyan continued to power up, feeling every ounce of energy drawing out of him as he charged his attack. Rocks and debris below him began to slowly rise against the extreme winds and rain, the ground rumbling and shaking as he continued to draw out even more energy, keeping his concentration sharp. 

Gusts of wind and rain crashed into the Saiyan, though never breaking his focus. Once he felt he was ready, the prince grinned wickedly and placed the bottom of his hands together, aiming them down while closing his eyes one last time, feeling unlocked energy and power beginning to manifest. 

"Let's see you take this one on, Kakarot," Vegeta muttered as he opened his eyes and discharged his attack, finalized by shouting, "Final Flash!"

A beam of electric yellow shot down and tore open the ground, resembling massive bolts of lightning morphed together that eerily illuminated the sky, the beam instantly mangling the ground and rumbling the Earth. He knew it was reckless to release such a powerful attack into the Earth, especially never having used this attack before, yet satisfied with the results once the dust had eventually settled. 

Vegeta smirked victoriously at the sight of the newly crafted massive crater below, proud of his own doing while slowly descending to catch his breath, along with the wind and rain also starting to let up. 

Once making contact with the ground cautiously, the Saiyan closed his eyes and took a deep breath before letting out a satisfied grumble and harrumph. 

"I need a fucking senzu bean."

* * *

"Woah! Bulma, what are you... look out!" Her Tinder date yelled as he gripped the bottom of the passenger seat of Bulma's blue Maserati, the heiress chuckling darkly as she stomped down on the gas in disregard of her date's pleas to slow down. 

"Hang on," she snarled and spun the wheel sharply while braking abruptly, causing the electric blue car to spin out of control, yet Bulma knew exactly what she was doing.

"Fuck! Get me out of here!" Tinder boy cried for help as Bulma could no longer suppress her laughter, continuing to spin the car in the deserted parking lot he took her to. Served him right for taking her there with the intent of getting laid in the back of her car, and Bulma Briefs was having none of that, at least none of that from Tinder boy.

"I'm sorry, what did you say? Can't hear you through all of that crying," Bulma snarked, gripping the steering wheel tight and coming to an unexpected stop, splashing a large puddle due to the aftermath of the quick storm that just passed by.

Her date stared forward, body utterly motionless and in shock. He slowly turned his head to face Bulma, who was wearing a dark grin as she stared back at him.

"Y-You're psy-psycho," he stuttered while his heart raced in fear, slowly reaching for his seatbelt to unbuckle and escape from the Maserati. 

Bulma tsked and placed her dainty hand against Tinder boy's chest, thoughtfully pushing him back into his seat as she leaned into him.

"You really thought that you even had the slightest of chances getting into my pants tonight?" Bulma purred, slowly tracing her hand up the man's chest and stopping as her hand made its way under his chin, gripping lightly as she raised an eyebrow, awaiting a response. 

Tinder boy swallowed hard, "you're wearing _that,"_ he looked her over, glancing at her breasts that barely fit into her form fitting dress. "That sort of gave me the impression that you're easy."

Bulma tensed, the words piercing into her like daggers as she gripped his chin harder.

"Wrong answer, motherfucker," she snapped, abruptly releasing him from her grip and putting the car into gear while he attempted to escape from the vehicle, though his efforts proved to be unsuccessful. 

Bulma threw the car into reverse and spun her head back to get a better view of the empty lot behind her, simultaneously pushing down hard on the gas and spinning the wheel in an effort to do the craziest donut, in reverse, that she could possibly perform. 

"You crazy bitch! Let me out of here!" Her date ordered and clung to the handle above him with terror in his eyes. 

"You haven't even seen crazy yet," Bulma retorted, pushing down harder and continuing to spin the car in satisfaction.

Interrupting her fun, Bulma's phone rang in her purse. With a quick sigh, she gripped the wheel with one hand and reached for her phone with her free hand, finding it after a few moments and bringing the device up to her ear.

"Go for Bulma," she answered cheerfully while Tinder boy's screams could clearly be heard in the background. She shot him a look of frustration and moved the phone to her chest to block the speaker. "Can you please stop screaming like a little girl for two seconds? I'm on the phone here."

"Who are you with," a gruff voice asked with apparent agitation over the phone, Bulma instantly slamming her foot down on the brake once she thought she recognized the voice. 

"Fucking A!" Tinder boy shouted once they finally completed the last donut and came to a halt, immediately unbuckling his seatbelt and practically jumping out of the car while Bulma held her attention to the device that was still pressed to her chest, completely unbothered by her date's successful escape.

"Hello? Earth woman? Shall I seek you out personally?" The rough voice asked as Bulma's suspicions were confirmed in that moment that it was definitely Vegeta's voice on the other end.

She narrowed her eyes and finally brought the phone up to her ear. "What could _you_ possibly want?"

"Funny, but according to Kakarot's text messages, I believe it was _you_ who wanted something from me."

_Fucking Goku!_ Bulma thought to herself, trying to quickly come up with a reasonable explanation. 

"Don't flatter yourself. I was just trying to see if I could hangout with my friend without needing to worry about you secretly keeping tabs on my every move, stalker."

"Tch," Vegeta huffed. "Planning an escape from your _'date'_ to spend time with Kakarot and those other bone heads? Sounds plausible," the prince snarked.

Bulma's cheeks instantly flushed. "You don't get to question my motives."

"So, you don't deny the fact that you were indeed trying to flee from your date," Vegeta snickered, causing Bulma to ball her fists in a deeper rage. 

"You _are_ keeping tabs on me, you pig!"

"Have you forgotten that Kakarot defines the term 'word vomit' and always provides an abundance of unnecessary information during practically every conversation?" Vegeta scoffed, and although unwilling to admit it, Bulma knew he was right. 

"Ok, fine! So I might have been trying to dip out on my shitty date. Sue me."

"And that must have been him screaming like a baby in the background," Vegeta chuckled darkly, "were you torturing him with an unnerving explanation of your beauty routine, or whatever it is that females find so interesting?"

"That's absolutely none of your business."

"Debatable," Vegeta retorted. "You see, now that Kakarot has joined us, I require an understanding of who he associates with and am inclined to ensure their wellbeing."

"Bullshit!" Bulma guffawed, "just admit it. Admit that I've actually intrigued you. Admit that you can't get me out of that sociopathic mind of yours."

Vegeta remained eerily silent for a moment before letting out a feeble growl.

"If you'd stop wasting your time on moronic and undeserving men, maybe we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Or," Bulma challenged, revving her engine inadvertently, "we're actually having this conversation because you find me irresistible."

"Not even in _your_ dreams," Vegeta lowered his voice in a husky tone, Bulma biting her lip in response as she allowed the vehicle to accelerate forward. 

Vegeta ended the call and crossed his arms, effortlessly floating above the empty parking lot in which Bulma had just peeled out of, staring down intently at the tire marks she'd left behind. He craved her erratic behavior, longing to uncover her complexity. She was truly an enigma that he had found himself undeniably intrigued by. Vegeta hated that anyone could possibly affect him like this, let alone an Earth woman. 

To his relief, the sound of frantic foot steps in the woods close by averted his attention, though the sudden realization that the sound belonged to Bulma's date brought a wry smile to Vegeta's face.

"He's lucky I'm feeling considerably merciful tonight," Vegeta snickered before closing his eyes to sense Bulma's presence, then moving to follow the heiress discretely, only to ensure her wellbeing of course.

* * *

The next morning, Bulma got up extra early to storm into her lab and seek out the computer to research any bit of available information pertaining the Saiyan prince, thoughts now entirely consumed by him and his arrogance. Once she logged in, Bulma reached for her mug to take a sip of her piping hot coffee when her father interrupted her, startling the blue haired beauty and spilling the hot liquid onto her lap.

"Dad! What are you doing sneaking around like that?" Bulma scowled and began wiping her coffee stained pajama shorts with a nearby rag, huffing and puffing while Dr. Briefs smiled charmingly. 

"Bulma, dear, I'm not sneaking around. I'm always up this early to feed Scratch. That's no mystery," he answered cheerfully, glancing to his shoulder where the small black cat clung to.

"Sorry dad," Bulma sighed, "I forgot."

"Now the question at hand is, what are _you_ doing up so early?" Dr. Briefs asked incredulously, peeking over Bulma's shoulder to see what she'd been researching, though furrowing his brow at the screen. 

"Oh, it's uh, it's nothing. Just helping Goku with something," Bulma lied, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment as her father raised an eyebrow and shrugged. 

"Whatever you say, dear. I'll be in the west wing with the rest of our animals, if you need me."

Bulma exhaled in relief and nodded, "sounds good."

"Oh, and sweetheart, don't forget the gala that your mother and I are hosting for our military partners is this coming Saturday night. Shall we expect to see Yamcha?"

"Probably. But not with me," Bulma rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Ah, well his loss, dear," Dr. Briefs placed a hand on her arm and smiled softly. 

"I know," Bulma sighed, "I feel like I'm just striking out in that department lately."

Dr. Briefs pursed his lips, "any man would be lucky to have you."

"Thanks dad," Bulma smiled halfheartedly as Dr. Briefs reciprocated the exchange. 

"Well, we've also invited Kami's new Saiyan soldier squad, since Capsule Corp will be exclusively providing and repairing their aircraft and other military equipment during their stay here on Earth. Maybe you'll find one of them to be a suitable date for the gala?"

Bulma's eyes nearly bulged out of her skull, "you invited those Saiyan brutes?"

"Well of course we did, darling. Will that pose a problem?"

"No," Bulma averted her gaze from her father and glanced at her computer, only finding basic information that she was already aware of regarding Vegeta. 

"Splendid," Dr. Briefs responded with a smile. "I'll see you at breakfast in a few hours."

"See you later," Bulma forced a smile, waiting for her father to disappear from the lab before slamming her fist down on her desk.

Taking a deep breath, she closed out of her current search and pulled up her favorite clothing site to seek out a new dress, understanding she had to look nothing less than perfect on Saturday. Landing her eyes on a breathtaking, sparkly royal blue, mermaid style strapless dress, her heart fluttered, hoping to impress only one specific guest as she clicked 'Add to cart'.


End file.
